The Akhilesh Yadav government today ordered a preliminary inquiry into the allotment of 150 farmhouses to individuals and firms,terming it as one of the three big scams in Noida that took place during the Mayawati regime.

Among the allottees of farmhouses were well-known advocate Shanti Bhushan and his son Jayant Bhushan who got a 10,000 sq m plot each.

Incidentally,Jayant Bhushan has appeared against Mayawati in the Noida statue park case.

Last year,the Local Fund Audit had pointed out several alleged violations of rules and procedures in the allotments. It had said that there was no transparency in allotments and that land had been given away cheaply,causing a loss of Rs 145 crore to the exchequer. But the BSP government ignored the report.

State Industrial Development Commissioner Anil Gupta has ordered the inquiry after getting a note from Noida CEO Sanjeev Saran. NOIDA chairman Rakesh Bahadur,who will conduct the inquiry,has been asked to submit his report in a week.

The Indian Express had reported the story of allotment of farmhouses on April 20 last year. In another report on December 14 last year,the newspaper had reported the findings of the Local Fund Audit.

Bahadur will also conduct inquiries into the two other scams in Noida mentioned in Sarans note: unauthorised construction worth Rs 54.27 crore at the Dalit Prerna Sthal and its subsequent demolition at a cost of Rs 5.5 crore; and excess payments of Rs 391 crore made for works related with the project to supply Ganga water to Noida.

The Dalit Prerna Sthal was inaugurated by Mayawati on October 14,2011. The Noida CEO has informed the government that structures worth Rs 54.27 crore were constructed in violation of norms in the memorial.

Later,the Supreme Court ordered the demolition of these structure swhich were constructed in the green belt and the government had to spend another Rs 5.5 crore.

In the water supply scheme,the Engineering Department of the authority made payments twice over for laying underground electricity cables and installing quality pipelines.

Besides,the department signed about 60 bonds for different works with various firms in backdate after the election notification was issued on December 12,2011,says the CEOs note.

Said Gupta,I got a brief note from the Noida CEO Sanjeev Saran on three big scams today,after which I have ordered a preliminary inquiry in all three scams.

In his note,Saran has said that farmhouses of 10,000 sq m were allotted at low rates to about 120 companies and 29 individuals. Agriculture land for these farm-houses was acquired for industrial purpose by using urgency clause and later on allottees were allowed permission to construct motels,banquet hall,swimming pool and similar facilities.

Land of 12 villages was acquired for these farm-houses and the Supreme Court has quashed the land acquisition in Asdullapur village,the note said.

There was blatant misuse of rules to suit selected people. We expect everything will come out in the enquiry,Anil Gupta said.